NETGEAR WC9500 Wireless Controller Firmware 5.5.1.0

NOTE:

- Controller must be upgraded to NETGEAR WC9500 Wireless Controller Firmware 5.1.0.18 before loading 5.5.1.0.

New Features:

- Support for two new 802.11AC AP models WAC720, WAC730.
- In the wireless configuration page, new wireless mode 80211na/ac, channel width 20/40/80 MHz dynamic, and MCS index for VHT rates got introduced.
- The default channel width configuration for 2.4 GHz radio is changed to 20 MHz Static, from 20/40 MHz dynamic.
- In multicast rate limiting configuration for 2.4 GHz the new minimum value is 15, instead of earlier allowed 0. For 5GHz the new minimum value is 90, instead of earlier allowed 0.
- Experimental feature: Under Monitor->clients a new page "Roaming Clients" got added to show L2/L3 roamed clients.
- From the profile security "Legacy 802.1x" support is removed.
- Event tracing logs feature is removed.

Bug Fixes:

- Monitor->usage->graph page is changed from java based to HTML5 based, with which customer doesn't need to install/update the plugins.

Known Issues:

- Initial firmware upgrade from M1 (3.1.x.x) image, (one time for WC9500 M4 beta) needs to be done using TFTP or FTP method in Maintenance > Upgrade.
- Automatic DST time shift is not supported for United Kingdom, user has to manually adjust the time.
- For All the AP models, 5GHz radio information/Client details can't be shown in NMS300.
- Redundancy is not supported for Planning and Heat maps feature. If secondary is active, planning and heat map page will not be shown.
- Automatic configuration downgrade from 5.5.x.x release to lower version is not supported. Customers are advised to take the backup before the upgrade, and if any problem is seen they can downgrade the firmware and restore the configuration.
- Captive portal authentication is not required for multicast/broadcast traffic. Captive un-authenticated clients can receive the multicast/broadcast traffic.
- In the RF planning and Heat map page the building/floor name should not contain the following two characters "[" and "]".
- The Default Gateway IP and the network settings will be shown blank for around 3 minutes immediately after adding the AP to the managed AP list. Once the configuration is applied on the AP, the default gateway IP and the network settings will be shown properly, for this to happen it will take approximately 2-3 minutes.
- Changing the AP group frequently is not supported, wait for 1 minute between changing the groups.
- In a redundancy setup when user does a backup and restore some times "Unzipping failed" error is shown, this can be ignored and actual configuration gets applied properly.
- If WNDAP660 reboots because of the event handler crash, in presence of 100 or more clients, please disable the RSSI based load-balancing feature.
- Events tracing logs feature support is removed from the controller platform, but not removed from the UI. Customer is advised not to enable this feature.
- If out of factory standalone WNDAP360 is added to the managed list, please make sure you select the password option rather than enabling the DHCP.
- In NMS300 active client duration is not displayed properly.
- SNMP traps are not supported in WC7600 firmware.
- Wireless client separation feature do not work when clients are connected on different APs on same profile.
- Captive portal unauthenticated clients can able to send and receive multicast traffic.
- Captive portal authenticated clients require re-authentication when roaming from Master Controller managed AP to Save Controller managed AP or vice versa.
- Wireless fixed data rate setting for WNDAP660/WNDAP620 not supported. This firmware will support only Best data rate.

Upgrade Instructions:

- Download and extract the new software to a convenient place such as your desktop.
- Log into the WC9500
- Read the below Caveats, if the upgrade is from a lower major release
- Select Maintenance > Upgrade from the main/submenu.
- In the Firmware Upgrade section, select Local File and click Browse.
- Locate the downloaded file and click Apply.
- This will start the software upgrade to your WC9500. This may take some time. Do not interrupt the upgrade process.
- At the conclusion of the upgrade, WC9500 will reboot automatically.

About Router Firmware:

Before you consider downloading this firmware, go to the system information page of the router and make sure that the currently installed version isn’t either newer or matching this release.

Due to the large variety of router models and different methods for upgrading the device, it is highly recommended that you read and, above all, understand the installation steps before you apply the new firmware, even if you are a power user.

In theory, these steps shouldn’t be much of a hassle for anyone, because manufacturers try to make them as easy as possible, even if they don’t always succeed. Basically, you must upload the new firmware to the router through its administration page and allow it to upgrade.

If you install a new version, you can expect increased security levels, different vulnerability issues to be resolved, improved overall performance and transfer speeds, enhanced compatibility with other devices, added support for newly developed technologies, as well as several other changes.

If you’re looking for certain safety measures, remember that it would be best if you perform the upload using an Ethernet cable rather than a wireless connection, which can be interrupted easily. Also, make sure you don’t power off the router or use its buttons during the installation, if you wish avoid any malfunctions.

If this firmware meets your current needs, get the desired version and apply it to your router unit; if not, check with our website as often as possible so that you don’t miss the update that will improve your device.